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Manchin Touts Extreme Vetting: 'Social Media Gives You a Roadmap' to Spot Terrorists

June 6, 2017

Sen. Joe Manchin (D., W.Va.) affirmed his support for extreme vetting of visa applicants trying to enter the U.S., arguing Tuesday that the government should investigate social media history before allowing those from terror-prone areas into the country.

The West Virginia Democrat also said he is ready to fight terrorism and that the best way to do so is to work with Muslim communities in the U.S.

"I'm ready to fight anytime, anyplace, anywhere," Manchin said on Fox News. "We're not going to allow terrorism to wreak havoc in West Virginia or any other state in the nation."

"The people that can help us most are the Muslim communities around this country ... They're the ones that we should be working with, talking to, finding out, to make sure they're monitoring social media, the mosque, things of this sort, to help us," Manchin added.

Co-host Steve Doocy then asked if Manchin supports "extreme vetting," noting that the Trump administration has started looking at visa applicants' social media histories.

The senator said tougher vetting is necessary and that social media history is an essential tool.

"Absolutely, that social media gives you a roadmap," Manchin said. "It does give you a roadmap of what these people have been thinking, what's been in the kind of environment they've been in, what's inspiring them, what they're interested in, what has attracted them. It tells us everything."

Manchin voiced support for the current vetting process, but he said it could improve.

"The vetting process is very severe and strict right now, and it can even be better," he said. "So we're working every way we possibly can, and we know areas of the world that people come from can be truly a problem."

Published under: Joe Manchin , Terrorism